Friday, July 10, 2015

Review: I Hunt Killers by Barry Lyga


Title: I Hunt Killers 
Author: Barry Lyga 
Publication Date:  April 3rd, 2012
Publisher: Little, Brown & Company
Source: Bought it
Where to find: Goodreads / Amazon / Book Depository
Summary: What if the world's worst serial killer...was your dad?

Jasper "Jazz" Dent is a likable teenager. A charmer, one might say.

But he's also the son of the world's most infamous serial killer, and for Dear Old Dad, Take Your Son to Work Day was year-round. Jazz has witnessed crime scenes the way cops wish they could—from the criminal's point of view.

And now bodies are piling up in Lobo's Nod.

In an effort to clear his name, Jazz joins the police in a hunt for a new serial killer. But Jazz has a secret—could he be more like his father than anyone knows?
"He wondered about a puppet that can see its strings. He wondered... What if a puppet could cuts its own strings? Physics and logic dictated that the puppet would collapse, lifeless." - pg. 251
I have no idea what I expected wit this book, but it was so much darker than I ever imagined it would be. This is considered a YA novel because Jasper is only 17, however, his life is anything but typical. He was raised by a serial killer and with that comes gory details related to the murders. Barry Lyga was not afraid of diving into the gritty details in this book. There are vivid details relating to the murders and thoughts Jasper has.

I was not at all bother by the darkness of this novel, but kind of wish I had been forewarned about how graphic it actually is. I also think you need to be prepared if you want to read this series. While this book was gory and graphic, I was also fascinated by it. Serial killers and how they are caught has always been of interest to me. So seeing how Jasper went through the clues and his experience to piece together information about the murders and the serial killer were fascinating to me.

As for the actual characters and plots, I really enjoyed Jasper as the protagonist. He is dealing with a lot with his father being a convicted serial killer. Add to this Jasper's upbringing and his tendencies toward violent thoughts and you have a very complex layered character. We saw the struggle that Jasper goes through with trying to distance himself from his father and his actions. Jasper is also surrounded by people who believe in him in Howie, Connie, and G. Williams.

As for plot, I was engrossed in finding out who was this new killer and what his motivations were. This book had me anticipating and trying to guess what was going to happen. And I can happily say, I was still surprised by the end. Certain aspects I was able to predict, but overall I was left shocked at the outcome. This book also ended in a way that makes me mad I do not have the next book in the series to pick up and see how Jasper and Company deal with the new developments. 


How do you feel about gory books, especially when you do not know they will be that bad? Let me know in the comments.

No comments:

Post a Comment